A letter to you — the one who puts up walls because it’s safer that way. A letter to me, the one who ghosts when life gets overwhelming. A letter to anyone who made a habit out of pushing people away. I hope 2017 is the year things change.
In 2016, it was easy to hide. To hide from the world, from the hurt, from the series of painful events. We kept loved ones at an arms length. We learned how to disappear without anyone even noticing, or so we thought.
In 2016, it was easy to think things would never get better. It was bombarding us. Maybe even made us feel selfish – how we blamed a year for everything being so hard. 2016 did not attempt to do us wrong. It was just a year, after all.
In 2017, I have no idea what the landscape is going to be. I don’t know if hate will prevail or if love will come bursting out every crack in the foundation until we’re brimming with it. I hope the latter. But I can’t promise a year will magically fix everything. In fact, I don’t think a year can do that. It might be unfair to even expect.
But a new year signifies a new beginning.
In 2017, I hope you let people in.
I hope you give them a chance to get to know you – your intricacies, the traits that make you so uniquely, unapologetically you. I hope you find a way to shed that armor you’ve been donning. Forgive me for how grossly cheesy this is, but that heart of yours is so good. You’ve got a gooey center, you know?
In 2017, I hope you realize your own worth. You, and only you, get to determine how you feel about yourself. I hope you find power in that. An entire universe exists inside you. How lucky others would be to have an opportunity to discover the depths you contain.
You’ve learned how to keep your vulnerabilities out of view. But in this coming year, I hope you realize the strength in letting those imperfections show.
I hope you let someone in enough to love you. To love every single part of you. Because, in 2017, you are so deserving of happiness. I hope you know that. 
